


Leases, Kisses, and Christmas trees... Oh My!

by Witchy74woman



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Break Up, Christmas, F/M, First Kiss, Hogwarts, Kissing, Professors, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witchy74woman/pseuds/Witchy74woman
Summary: Draco and Hermione have been friends for the past five years as they've been professors at Hogwarts together. When Hermione goes to make a commitment to someone else Draco has something to say about it.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27
Collections: Hermione’s Nook Kissmas





	Leases, Kisses, and Christmas trees... Oh My!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Invisible_Sarah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invisible_Sarah/gifts).



> This one-shot was written for the Happy Kissmas fest from Hermione's Nook. My prompt was the "foot pop" kiss and I hope I did it justice. I did take some inspiration from a scene from Friends but changed a lot of what was said. Huge thanks to my alpha/beta Invisible_Sarah! She has helped me so much!

“Hey Granger!” 

Hermione looked up to see Draco walking into her office with a cup of tea in his hand.

“You are a lifesaver; I haven’t had any today. Did you add –“

“A bit of honey and one sugar,” he interrupted her with a smirk, “I’ve known how you like your tea for a while.” Handed her the cup, and sat down on the corner of her desk.

Hermione smiled up at him.

If anyone had told her that she and Draco Malfoy would have become such great friends a few years ago she would have either laughed or hexed them, maybe both. However, a few years after the war they were both hired to teach at Hogwarts, he for Potions and she for arithmancy. At first the relationship was tenuous, but Draco did everything he could to show her that he had changed. When she finally agreed to have tea with him, he apologized earnestly. Since then, they spent time together every day after classes before retiring to their own rooms for bed.

“What are you working on?” he asked, looking at the papers on her desk.

She sighed, “trying to finish grading these papers rather quickly today, I have an appointment to go to soon, but all of these are abysmal. It’s like they aren’t even trying. Look at this one! This sentence ends in a preposition and there are at least four words misspelled.”

“What's the question,” Draco asked.

“If you have one hundred Christmas trees and only 5,000 christmas bulbs, how many decorations will adorn each tree,” she read off in a monotone voice.

“Christmas trees Granger, really,” he laughed. “What year is this for?”

“Second year,” she said matterfactally.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully, “go easy on them, Granger. They can’t all be as perfect as you.”

Hermione tried to ignore the butterflies she felt in her stomach at his remark, he definitely just meant her schoolwork back when they were students. There was a time that she thought he was interested in her as more than friends, but he never made a move to change their relationship. She quickly moved past that idea. Now she was back together with Ron and content. Any remaining feelings she had for Draco were just how much she cared for him as a friend, right?

“Galleon for your thoughts?” Draco asked, pulling out of her thoughts.

She shook her head, “oh, nothing, just trying to make sense of all of these terrible papers.” 

Hermione started packing everything up and he moved away from her desk.

“I think I’m just going to call it quits for today, I’m getting frustrated and I’m going to be late if I don’t start heading out now,” she said as she looked at her watch.

“What’s this very important appointment you’re rushing off to?” Draco asked her, following her towards the office exit.

“Ron and I are going to sign a lease on a flat in Diagon Alley,” she said nonchalantly as she closed and locked the door to the office. She turned her head and looked at Draco, he had a strange look on his face. Could that be disappointment? No, he had never made a move when she was single, and now she was in a perfectly fine relationship with Ron.

“Everything okay, Malfoy?” she asked him.

Draco kept looking at her with that look on his face, his eyebrows were furrowed, and lips pursed. He seemed at a loss for words, Hermione had never seen him so uncomposed.

“Isn’t that a little far for you? It’s not like you can apparate onto the grounds,” he finally said.

She huffed a little, “I wanted to get a place in Hogsmeade so I could just walk onto the grounds. Ron wanted to be close to his job, and the flat is essentially across the street. I talked to McGonagall, and she said I could floo into her office, so we just have to file the paperwork with the ministry about setting up floo access at our place. Until then I’ll figure something out.”

“Oh yes, Merlin forbid Weasley be inconvenienced at all to get to his joke shop job,” Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes with annoyance in his tone.

“Hey,” Hermione stopped and grabbed his arm, “he owns that joke shop with his brother, and why are you so irritated by this? It’s not like you’re the one being inconvenienced by the location of my flat, it doesn’t affect you at all”

Draco looked down at her hand on his arm and placed his hand over top of it, “he doesn’t treat you right. Whether he means to be or not he’s completely selfish. Any time you talk to me about him he is making decisions for both of you that seem to only benefit him. You deserve better than that is all.”

“I appreciate your sudden concern in my relationship, but I really don’t have time, I’m going to be late as it is. I would be happy to have this conversation tomorrow when I get back,” she said sarcastically as she pulled her hand back and started to walk away.

“Don’t do it, Granger….” He said so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. 

She turned to face him, “please Hermione, don’t move in with him. I… I love you.”

She stared at him, shocked, “Draco, I don’t… I can’t do this. I have to go.”

Draco watched as she turned and ran off realizing he missed his chance a long time ago.

Hermione was quiet as she and Ron did their final walk through of the flat. She tried to focus on what the realtor was saying about the lease, but she couldn’t get her mind off of what Draco had said. He loved her? How? When? It didn’t make any sense. They had been friends for five years now, and never once did he make any move or say anything to make her think he was interested in more than that. She needed to focus on what was happening now, with Ron.

“This could be my Quidditch Room! I can place all my flags on the walls and put a couch in here for my own private space. You don’t need an office right Mione? You have one at work already!” 

She couldn’t get the look on his face out of her mind. He looked so distraught when he asked her not to move in with Ron, that couldn’t have been faked. 

Why would he have waited so long? 

She would be lying if she said she didn’t have any feelings for him, she had been pushing them aside for years now, but did she love him? She didn’t feel the same way for him as she did for Ron. 

Ron was comfortable, familiar, she knew exactly what life she was getting with him. They would get this flat and get married, move into a house and he wanted kids as soon as possible.

Draco was different, he was the opposite of Ron in every way. Hermione wasn’t comfortable with him, he always surprised her, and she wasn’t sure what to expect from him every day. She felt tension when she was around him, that had long since been gone with Ron.

“Hermione, are you listening to anything we’re saying?” Ron asked her.

She startled out of her thoughts, “oh, I’m sorry Ron. It’s been a long day, what are we discussing?”

Ron rolled his eyes at her, clearly frustrated that this was taking longer than he anticipated. He didn’t want to do a final look at the place and wanted to sign right away. “The lease is a year long, if you don’t see anything you disagree with then we’re ready to sign and move forward.”

Hermione stepped towards the table and waited for Ron to hand her the quill. He signed his name on the first line and turned to place it in her hands, “one year here and then we’ll get married and buy our own home.” He said as he pushed the papers towards her, smiling.

‘One year, one year here.

If I sign this I’m agreeing to the rest of the plan as well.

She was frozen in place, staring at the lease. Why did this feel like the end of something instead of the beginning? She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“Hermione, what are you doing?” Ron asked strained, “just sign the papers.”

She stared at him with wide eyes, “I’m sorry Ron, I can’t do this. I don’t want this.” 

Before he could argue and talk her out of her decision she walked out the door of the flat onto the street of Diagon Alley with tears in her eyes and her thoughts running wild.

Draco was sitting in his chair in his room, he had messed this up. He missed his chance with her and now on top of that, he had probably ruined their friendship. 

He poured more firewhiskey into his glass and continued to drink his sorrows away. He thought about not answering the door when he heard the loud knock, but as the head of Slytherin house he needed to see what a student needed.

With a sigh, he stood up and made his way to unlock and open the door, the knocks continued getting louder and louder. 

He threw the door open, “what could possibly be this important?” He stopped short when he saw Hermione standing at his door, hand still up to continue knocking. 

“Sorry Granger, I didn’t realize it was you, would you—”

Before he could finish Hermione pushed her way through to his room and turned to stare at him.

“—like to come in? Sure Malfoy, that would be great” he sarcastically finished. His heart pounding in his chest.

“I didn’t sign the lease.”

He closed the door and looked at her, “oh, that’s… interesting.”

“It’s not interesting, it is very much the opposite of interesting” she replied.

“Get to the point, Granger,” he could tell she was annoyed.

She glared at him, “I was doing fine before you told me you loved me”

“You think it’s easy for me to see you with him? To hear you talk about him all the time?” he said just as angrily.

“No, just shut up! You don’t get to talk right now! You had no right to tell me you had feelings for me, you had your chance last year. I was single and waiting for you to ask me out and you didn’t,” she shouted. “My life was going great, I had a boyfriend, and we were getting an apartment, we were going to get married, and have kids, and then you went and screwed it all up by telling me you loved me! That’s not fair, you don’t get to do that!” 

“I had no right?” he asked her, his voice also climbing, “You never gave me any idea that you were interested either! Don’t blame this on me, when you never said anything either. Where was that Gryffindor courage you’re always talking about?”

She continued yelling, “just keep your feelings to yourself, my life was going great, is going great. I don’t need this.”

“So, what are you saying Granger? Just push my feelings aside, and pretend I don’t have them?” he asked incredulously. 

“Yes,” she shouted, “I’ve been doing it for years now, so I’ve got plenty of practice.”

“Fine Hermione just go live your mundane life with Weasley. Go sign the lease on your place and leave,” he scoffed at her.

Without making a move to leave she began again, “why didn’t you say anything before? You seemed completely fine telling me today and ruining the plans I had made, so why not say something before today?”

He didn’t respond, he just stared at her with anger as they both breathed heavily from yelling at one another.

After more than three heartbeats of silence she walked out of the door and slammed it shut.

Draco watched her walk away for the second time today, and was not about to make the same mistake he did earlier by just letting her leave. Although it did take him a few seconds before he took off after her.

Hermione was so angry she didn’t hear his footsteps behind her as she made the way to her office muttering to herself. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him.

“I didn’t say anything before today because if Weasley isn’t good enough for you, then I know that I’m definitely not good enough for you,” He confessed. “I made fun of you for years, I called you terrible names, made you cry every chance I could, Hermione you were even tortured in my house. Why would I ever, think you would want to be with me? Or if you did, that I could possibly deserve you?” he finished voice cracking. 

“Why change your mind today then?” she asked looking up into his eyes. “Do you deserve me today?”

He closed his eyes and collected himself before responding, “no but hearing that you were going to move in with Weasley felt like I was losing you. Losing any kind of chance I could possibly have. I knew I needed to at least tell you how I felt or I was going to regret it forever.” 

He gently reached out and pushed her hair behind her ear, cupping her face, “you said you’ve been pushing your feelings aside for years. I realized I liked you in third year when you punched me in the face, but I wasn’t supposed to, so instead I treated you worse. I’ve been hiding feelings for you for so long.”

“I don’t want to do it anymore, Hermione,” he sighed leaning into her.

He closed the distance between them and kissed her softly on the lips, when she didn’t respond he pulled back and pressed his forehead against hers. 

“Tell me to stop,” he whispered, “tell me to go back to my room and leave you alone.”

She looked into his eyes and said, “don’t you dare.” Then reached up to kiss him again. 

This kiss was different, full of the tension and feelings they had both been repressing for years. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into his body her foot slowly lifted off the floor. Nothing had ever felt more right, like this is where she was supposed to be.

Draco stopped the kiss, both of them smiling, and took her hand to lead her back to his room.

Completely unaware of the small group of cheering students who immediately went to tell their classmates the news. 


End file.
